In 2014, Wes Ball made his directorial debut with the dystopian science fiction film The Maze Runner which is based on James Dashner’s novel of the same name. The filmmaker subsequently went on to direct two more films in the franchise which follows the story of a teenager who is thrown into an intricate maze and must find his way out of it.
The central protagonist in the films was played by Dylan O’Brien who impressed with his performance in the trilogy. But the young actor who aptly developed the nuances of his character through the narratives, was initially not considered the perfect choice by Ball owing to a certain preconceived notion that he had of him.
How The Maze Runner Star Proved Director Wes Ball Wrong
Wes Ball’s first film in the Maze Runner series was the 2014 film titled The Maze Runner starring Dylan O’Brien in the lead role. The narrative follows a 16-year-old teenager who wakes up in an old elevator with no memory of who he is, and realizes that he must navigate his way through a complex labyrinth called The Glade along with other young people caught in it.
The film gained commercial success at the box office which prompted Ball to make two more installments in the franchise, all based on the sci-fi novels of the same name by James Dashner. Apart from the dystopian theme that worked well with young adults, the casting choices that the director made were also defining factors in the film’s success.
Interestingly, O’Brien was not the top priority for the filmmaker to be cast in the lead role. The young star was one among thousands of people who auditioned for the role, but was overlooked early on by Ball owing to the fact that he looked extremely dashing and suave, and in the director’s words, ‘a badass action star’ in an interview with Collider.
Ball believed that O’Brien’s charismatic personality and his ‘Teen Wolf’ hair did not fit in with the traits of the character who was initially supposed to exude a lot of vulnerability before developing the qualities that transformed him into a leader-like figure. But as fate would have it, the Not Ok star’s presence in the film was meant to be.
In the interview, the Ruin filmmaker elaborated on how his sights fell on O’Brien once more when he happened to see the star’s audition tapes at the behest of 20th Century Fox for the 2013 film The Internship in which he acted alongside Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.
Ball recalled being stunned and pleasantly surprised at seeing O’Brien in exactly the avatar he wanted for his film, which he failed to realize at the auditions of The Maze Runner. He spoke of how one thing led to another and resulted in the star being cast.
“So I watched his tape and was like ‘Wait a minute, I’ve seen this kid before.’. I looked him up online and there was one picture of him with a totally shaved head and it’s this sweet vulnerable looking kid and I was like ‘Whoa, interesting.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute, he’s just so familiar’, and I looked back at my old audition tapes, which we had thousands of, and there’s Dylan. That guy I said ‘No, definitely not him’. So we brought him back in and we started to talk with him and I’m like ‘oh my god he’s the coolest dude ever’”.
Ball also revealed that O’Brien who came from a technical background with his father having worked in the industry, was organically able to comprehend the intricacies of how to perform in front of the camera, which held him in good stead for the film.
Jurassic Park Inspired Wes Ball To Make Movies
Wes Ball’s directorial debut The Maze Runner was a solid start to his filmmaking career. The director who adapted a series of sci-fi novels into a film trilogy, achieved success at the box office for his efforts. The movie had just the right dose of action and emotion that worked perfectly for a PG-13 audience.
Speaking of his inspirations and influences in Hollywood, Ball revealed that veteran filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Jurassic Park was a defining factor in his career as a director. In an interview with Collider, the Mouse Guard filmmaker elaborated on why the Oscar winner’s cinematic style in the dinosaur saga appealed to him the most.
“Jurassic Park is probably the movie that got me wanting to make movies. It’s fun, but it’s not totally gruesome. We are doing something really dark here, but there’s not really a lot of blood. It’s totally a PG-13 movie, so a lot of kids are going to go watch this movie, but they’re not going to feel like they are getting talked down to. It’s not a kid’s movie, it’s just a cool movie that kids can go see.”
In addition, Ball also mentioned the popular series Lost and William Golding’s novel Lord Of The Flies as other references that inspired him to create the visual aspects of The Maze Runner.
The Maze Runner can be streamed on Max.
